


Fire in the Hole

by Karieauthoress (ksrandomme), ksrandomme



Series: Deja Vu [2]
Category: The Sentinel
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-03-23
Updated: 2009-03-23
Packaged: 2017-10-19 11:03:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/200125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ksrandomme/pseuds/Karieauthoress, https://archiveofourown.org/users/ksrandomme/pseuds/ksrandomme
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The first day Blair joins Jim on the job things get a bit more exciting than either bargained for – and that isn’t counting the terrorists holding the PD hostage.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fire in the Hole

  
_*||The ugly man with the blonde hair whipped his head around growling with frustration and snarling at Blair. “Are you the mole that took out two of my men? In this militia, that's a capital offense.” Grabbing Blair by the arm, he cocked his weapon and pointed it in Blair’s face.||*_

 _*||Blair threw up his hands in a pitiful defense, stammering in protest. “Hey, man, you don't want to do that, believe me. I'm worth more to you as a live hostage than a dead body.”||*_

 _*||The militia leader faltered a moment, his eyes narrowing as he glared at Blair, “What makes you think that your sorry ass is worth anything to anybody?”||*_

 _*||Blair swallowed the bile that was working its way up and replied haltingly. “Banks sent me in.”||*_

 _*||“You're a cop?”||*_

 _*||“Yeah. Lieutenant Sandburg, Narcotics. I've been teamed with Ellison.” Blair ignored the shaking of his voice as he delivered one of the biggest obfuscations of his life.||*_

 _*||Joel Taggart, who was laying on the ground with a gunshot wound to the leg, took up the lie. “He's telling the truth, Kincaid.”||*_

 _*||Kincaid turned and fired off a round into the desk top above Joel’s head, making them all flinch. “Shut up!”||*_

 _*||Another man strode in. “Commander! Commander... It's Walters.” He hefted a briefcase that held a portable phone, laid it on the desk and handed the handset to Kincaid.||*_

 _*||Kincaid barked into the receiver. “Go, Walters.” He listened to the other half of the conversation for a moment and then smiled.||*_

 _*||”Good work, Walters. Sometimes all it takes is just a little persuasion.” He hung up the phone and turned back to Blair with a gleam in his eye. “Looks like the execution's off. I guess I could use a man like you.||*_

o-O-o

Blair shot up in bed, the howl of the wolf in his ears. The panther snarled and hissed and Larry was going nuts in his cage. Blair drew in several deep breaths as he fought to calm himself after the nightmare. And what a nightmare it had been. Men with guns, lots and lots of guns, and obviously in a place where there were more than a few other cops around. He recognized Taggart, the man he had met a couple of days ago, and he saw many women and at least one kid in the room.

Blair reached over and snapped on his bedside lamp, peering in the bright light with squinted eyes to find Larry, who had settled down a bit as Blair had. Now they both sat, breathing deeply over and over again, and shaking. “Hey Larry, you ok buddy?”

Larry shrieked once, and then settled down again in his cage. Blair nodded. “Yeah, I don’t blame you. That one was a doozy.”

Blair glanced at his phone, halfway expecting Naomi to call. But it didn’t ring, and when he snuck a look at his clock, he could see why. She would be already moving at 4am. He sighed and bushed back his hair with one hand, scratching his hairy chest with the other, and collecting his thoughts. He should meditate on the dream. It’s what Naomi would recommend. And it had worked so well the last time.

He climbed out of bed and gathered the materials he would need, preparing to center himself and calm down. There was no telling when this particular vision would happen, but he would be prepared. For a moment he looked up in the darkness of the warehouse and snarled.

“You couldn’t be a bit more clear in these warnings? I mean, come on! I don’t know how good I’ll be with a gun in my face!”

The snap of a trap in the darkness made him jump, and he felt a shiver race down his spine. He may not be ready for it, but he had a few hours to try.

o-O-o

-On the way to the PD-

Blair got into the truck and looked around, “Nice.”

Jim smiled but started into the speech he had obviously pre-prepared in his head, “Okay, first things first, Chief. When we are on the street, you stay in the truck.”

“I have no problems with that.” Blair replied mildly.

“Good.” Jim said with satisfaction in his voice. But that satisfaction started to fade out of his face when Blair added,

“Except,”

“Except what?” was dragged from Jim. Then he straightened his back, “No, you know what? I’m the cop, you’re the observer – you do as you’re told and stay in the truck.”

“Well all right,” Blair said agreeably enough, but still continued. “And what if you zone? What then, O Great Sentinel Cop?”

Jim ground his molars together, his jaw muscles jumped.

“So, I won’t use the senses so much on the job like that.”

Blair’s reply was quick and to the point, “Then tell me again, why am I going to the Station with you if you’re not going to have me help you while you’re working?”

Jim glared at his soon to be partner, resignation gracing his face as they pulled into the garage. “Do you have to be so damned... logical?” he asked. Blair just laughed.

o-O-o

-In the Parking Garage-

Jim and Blair walked together sedately through the parking garage and towards the elevator, Jim leading with Blair only one step behind. Jim held a hand out to guide Blair around an officer.

“So, you think we should tell Simon about this? I dunno, Chief. He’s the Captain.” Jim walked with Blair beside him, the younger man looking up at him and trusting him to not let him hit anything along their route. Blair grinned in response.

“Yeah man, he’s the Captain. If anyone needs to know, it’s Simon. And you said he was such a good friend, he would be the logical choice as a temporary partner if I can’t be there to help you.” Blair allowed Jim to steer him around another officer as they made their trek towards the elevators. Jim paused and glanced around for a moment. Blair frowned in concern.

“What is it?”

Jim frowned slightly. “I thought I smelled blood.”

Blair glanced around, then down at his hand. “It could be me, I cut my hand while slicing a bagel this morning.”

Shrugging once, Jim pressed on towards the elevator, with Blair at his side, neither of them noticing the police officer slamming the trunk door of his cruiser down on a dead body.

o-O-o

-In Simon Banks’ Office-

“So let me get this straight. Jim here is one of these, what do you call it-“

“Sentinels.” Blair provided as helpfully as he could. Simon Banks frowned. He did not seem very understanding here and Blair began to worry. They stood for a bit just looking at each other until Blair broke, “Look Captain Banks, I’ve already explained about the enhanced senses and you seemed to understand-”

Banks cut him off, “Yes, yes you explained in great detail about enhanced senses, with many, many examples, but I think what I want to know is how this happened? How did my best detective get this boost to what God gave him huh? Tell me that.”

“Oh!” Blair said, a bit off balance. “He was born with them. It’s a simple case of elution here-” Again Captain Banks cut him off, this time at a roar.

“What the Hell? Are you calling my best detective a CAVEMAN?”

Blair gaped. Blair spluttered. Blair said, “No! Oh for the love of…” Jim nearly fell down as he started to laugh. Captain Banks looked thunderous still, but was softening. Blair managed to recoup, and said.

“No, I was _*not*_ calling Jim a caveman, he did that all by himself with no prompting from me. Jeez, what is with you people always taking the negative side of a conversation…”

Jim’s laughter at the younger man’s reaction had gone a long way to reassuring the large black man it seemed, because he went back to his original stern countenance.

Banks said, “So, Jim’s abilities are natural and inherent to him - just a case of natural selection then, like having blue eyes right?”

Blair sighed with relief, “Yes.”

“And this quirk of genetics makes him one of these rare Sentinels… and you want to study him for your thesis.”

“Dissertation,” corrected Blair, then winced. He hadn’t meant to do that, it just came out. “Look, Captain, I don’t want to draw a lot of attention to Jim. Just the opposite, in fact. I’m proposing to write two dissertations, one on Jim as a Sentinel, and the other on Closed Societies using the Police Department as a model. The central hypothesis to the second dissertation would be how the quality of evidence gathering at a crime scene can affect the capture of a perpetrator and ultimately the outcome of the trial.”

Simon glared at Jim. “When did this all come up?”

Jim shrugged, “Veronica Sarris. Remember I needed time to see specialists? I found him.”

“Jim, he’s not even a doctor.” Simon growled. Blair raised a hesitant hand.

“He’s standing right here.” He muttered as patiently as he could. Simon snapped back to him, his gaze softening and his face daring to blush.

“I’m sorry Mr. Sandburg. I didn’t mean to make light of this, but… well you have to understand my point of view here.”

Blair nodded vigorously. “Exactly, that’s why I told Jim we had to tell you about this, explain it to you. You of all people need to understand Jim’s abilities.”

  
Jim nodded. “He fairly twisted my arm, Simon. He doesn’t want to leave you out of the loop on this. But we have to be careful. If word gets out that I have some sort of edge over the perps out there, I’m dead.”

Simon nodded, head down and deep in thought. Finally he raised it again and stared hard at Jim. “I can only get him a three month pass. What do we do after that?”

Blair grinned. “Hopefully, by then, we can find someone who can be Jim’s partner in the field. Someone we can all trust to look out for the troubles that can creep up on him. And for the tough work, Jim and I can work in the afternoons and evenings, when he’s not on stake-out or something. I should have both dissertations done by then and can publish.”

“And then what?” asked Simon.

Blair looked towards Jim, who shrugged and replied. “And then, we cross that bridge when we come to it, sir.”

o-O-o

After exiting Captain Bank's office, the two men wandered down the main hall towards the elevators. Banks had given them his unofficial stamp of approval and now all Blair needed was to swim through the miles of red tape the Cascade Police Department insisted on for anything.

And that meant Vera. A very scary woman according to Jim. Blair didn't know how much of it was Jim pulling his leg, but there was enough honest apprehension in Jim's voice when he talked of the woman that he was put in mind of some of the University's senior secretaries. Which meant he wouldn't be too badly off, he knew how to deal with those old harridans just fine.

Then another of the people he had seen but not really met the day before came into the hallway. She was a rather petite woman, with a short cap of reddish brown hair. Jim greeted her warmly, "Caro, hey. Where you been? I tried calling you but..."

She made a face, "Stuck in a deposition all morning." Then she glanced over at Blair standing silently behind Jim. "So who's your new shadow there?"

Jim half turned before he seemed to register she was talking about Blair, "Oh, sorry, my manners... Anyway, Carolyn Plummer, Blair Sandburg."

Blair smiled charmingly at Carolyn and reached around Jim to offer his hand. "Hey, nice to meet you."

"You too." She said with a slightly less friendly smile.

Blair knew she was about to ask what he was doing there and had no idea what to say, but it seemed Jim knew it too as he said heartily, "So Caro, where's my lunch?"

Carolyn was neatly diverted by Jim's question and Blair breathed a sigh of relief. Whew, close call there. At any rate this time the daggers were being glared in Jim's direction as she snapped, "You don't have to be so damn smug about it!"

Jim's laughing rejoinder indicated how much of a nerve he had exposed with so few words, "I just knew your sister wouldn't go through with the wedding."

Blair hissed sub-vocally. ‘Ouch.'

Carolyn glanced his direction, sighed and then obviously thought it better to explain rather than snap. “This is my sisters second time at the altar. Of course, she didn’t actually make it to the altar…”

“I told you it wouldn’t happen.” Jim smirked.

“You made a bet, you won, and that means now on top of canceling her shower tomorrow, I have to buy you lunch?” She fumed. Blair wisely kept his mouth shut.

“It wasn't my idea to bet on it,” said Jim.

Carolyn glanced at her watch “My afternoon is packed, but if you can be ready in five minutes, I know a great new Indian place.”

Blair swallowed heavily, a silent communication to Jim, who took the hint smoothly. “No, no. That's too spicy.”

“I seem to recall from our married days that you loved Tandoori.” She replied hotly. Blair turned away for a moment, mentally adding foods to the list of things they needed to test. Jim was still snarking with Carolyn behind him.

“No, I still do, but this afternoon I just kind of feel like...” Jim trailed off.

“ We're not going to Wonderburger.” Carolyn denied hotly. Blair glanced back to catch her iron gaze. Jim shrugged it off without a thought.

“My choice. That was the deal.”

Carolyn sighed, “Meet me downstairs.” And then she was gone.

Blair turned back to Jim, a slight smirk on his face. “Wonderburger? Man, do you know what they put in those things?”

“Don’t start Chief. I only ate there once a week, if that. And we’re talking before the senses kicked in. Now I have trouble eating much of anything.” Jim sighed.

“Sense of taste off the mark still?” asked Blair knowingly. Jim nodded once, crestfallen. Blair sighed. “Ok, here’s a thought. Go to lunch, get the burger, fries and drink… then focus on breathing, imagine what the burger should taste like and let your senses fall to that level. If you still have trouble, just tell her you are worried about me and you want to get back soon.”

Jim smiled gently. “You don’t mind being used as an excuse?”

“Any time man, I’m here for you remember?” Blair chuckled. “All right, so let’s get me started with Vera.”

Jim nodded and gestured in the direction of Personnel, and the infamous Vera. Blair nodded back, gulped audibly and sallied forth. His bravado was punctured neatly with Jim's snickers following him down the hall.

o-O-o

-Down in Personnel-

The grey haired lady behind the desk sighed as she handed over another stack of forms, laying them on the desk with a thump. “You're required to read the manual, fill out the application materials, and sign the consent form.”

Blair smiled, shamelessly flirting with the woman to show sympathy for her tiring job. “Great, great. When I'm done with all this, I should qualify for a license to kill, huh?”

She didn’t smile. Jim leaned in and looked over Blair’s shoulder. “We've got a couple of hours here, Chief. So I'm going to be leaving you in Vera's capable hands. All right?”

Blair nodded aimlessly. “Uh huh”

Jim nodded and turned to leave. Suddenly he paused, sniffed and turned back to Vera. “Vera, is that White Shoulders that you're wearing?”

Blair glanced up, the hiss of the cat reaching his right ear. Jim was about to make a classic mistake. Vera smiled faintly as she waved a hand over her chest. “It's not too much, is it?”  
Jim opened his mouth and Blair interrupted him smoothly. “Classic scent for a classy lady, eh Jim?”

Jim faltered once, realizing that what he was about to say could easily have been misconstrued as insulting and glanced down at Blair for more help. Blair smiled and supplied.

“Hey Jim, now you know what you can get Vera for the Christmas party!”

Vera grinned happily as Jim nodded in approval. “You are so right, Sandburg. Take care of him for me Vera?”

“Sure Detective, anything for you.” She smiled as Jim turned to leave, and then grimaced as she seemed to remember something. Sheepishly she gazed back at Blair. “Now, Mr. Sandburg, the department requests all incoming personnel to submit to a drug test. I hope that's not a problem for you.”

Blair gave her his most dazzling smile. “Oh, come on Vera! Do I look like that would be a problem?” He paused, “Don't answer that.”

She snickered politely behind her hand, then sobered once again to announce. “We need a urine sample.”

Blair grinned even wider, if that were even possible. “Good thing I had that 16-ounce cafe latte before coming in today, eh?”

Blair chatted with Vera for a few moments, filling out forms and smiling every so often. It was odd that Jim would think Vera such a cold woman, she appeared warm and bubbly to him. He grinned at her blush as she handed him the urine sample cup.

“I’ll be right back,” he promised as he turned towards the door. He remembered seeing a bathroom just around the corner.

o-O-o

 _*||Jim and Carolyn walked together towards the elevator, stopping by Joel who grimaced at some uncomfortable news.||*_

 _*|| “Hey, Jim, did you hear about Alton and Morrison? They were just convicted for the ferryboat bombing. Life sentences for both.”||*_

 _*||Jim snarls, “That’s only two of them.”||*_

 _*||Joel nodded understandingly. “Yeah, but the way Garrett Kincaid disappeared maybe the Sunrise Patriots are gone for good.”||*_

 _*||Jim rolled his eyes. “Yeah, and maybe the sun won't rise.”||*_

 _*||Carolyn slugged him lightly on the arm as they carried on towards the elevators. “Would you lighten up on yourself, Jim? You got two of them put away for life.”||*_

 _*||Jim cut her off with a chop of his hand. “We nailed foot soldiers, Carolyn. Garrett Kincaid is still out there.”||*_

 _*||Carolyn smirked. “You're not responsible for every lunatic on the loose.” She climbed into his truck with him as he snorted.||*_

 _*||“Says who?”||*_

o-O-o

‘What the hell was that?’ Blair wondered wildly. He’d just been turning the corner when he had felt something strange. Blair had slowed his steps, stumbling a bit as he tried to shake off the uneasy feeling he had in his stomach. One hand was on the door to the restroom preparing to push it open when it hit again. Stronger. Blair fell through the door and thankfully caught himself against the wall as he spiraled away.

o-O-o

 _*||“I never come first do I?” Darryl yelled at his father. “Man the only reason I am here is so that you don’t have to keep guilt trippin’ over the divorce and Mom will get me off her back for a weekend.”||*_

 _*||Simon Banks felt his ulcer start to boil. “Darryl, that’s enough. Look I have to go to a lunch meeting at the Mayor’s office but we are leaving right after I can escape,” he reached into his desk to pull out a video game cartridge. “Look, I got you a copy of ‘Assault Force II’, that oughta keep you busy for a while.”||*_

 _*||Darryl looked at his father in disdain, “Oh Dad, I already beat that game.”||*_

 _*||“Yeah? Well how ‘bout you try doing it without any of the cheats.” Simon shot back. Then he sighed and said, “Look, I won’t be that long. Just you be good, hear?”||*_

 _*||Darryl huffed in classic teenager, but nodded. Simon walked out.||*_

o-O-o

Blair grabbed the door to one of the stalls, his feet wobbly as he attempted to decipher the visions that flipped through his skull. Of all the times to have a string of second sight, now was not it!

He gazed at himself in the mirror, eyes shadowed in confusion and concern crossing his features. This was is, it was coming and he was afraid he wouldn’t be ready for it. His ears picked up the distinct howl of the wolf’s cry, and the snarl of the jungle cat. He wasn’t alone, this could all work out if he just kept his mind on the clues and his foot on the path.

He leaned against the walls, closed his eyes and waited for more. He wasn’t disappointed.

o-O-o

 _*||Rhonda and Darryl being gathered up by Kincaid’s men, Darryl’s mouthing off, “Man, anything happens to me, and you’re smoked. My father’s the-” Rhonda cutting him off mid-shout, darting a nervous glance at their captors, “Darryl, please. Just try to co-operate.”||*_

o-O-o

 _*||In another hallway they grab Joel. He attacks and gets away, but doesn’t get far. They shoot him instead. Then the men with the guns are picking him up and dragging him…||*_

o-O-o

Blair moaned with the pain of people being hurt around him, his eyes squeezing shut in frustration. He was on the verge of slipping away when a gunshot sounded. His head shot up in realization. ‘That was in the station!’ He crept out of the stall he’d been in to open the door to the hallway a sliver and saw Joel Taggart being dragged by two guys down the hall. The large man’s leg wounded and bleeding in a way Blair had seen just moments ago, even if in this view of the wound it was much fresher.

‘Damn, damn, damn.’ Blair thought with a shudder as he let the door whisper shut and sagged against the wall beside it. What the hell was he supposed to do now? Hearing noises in the hallway, he moved fast and scooted into a stall and got up into a crouch onto one of the toilet seats. Just in time too it turned out as one of the large men had returned and was checking for any occupants. Blair breathed a sigh of relief when the guy was less than diligent and left after he only looked under the stall doors rather than opening them.

Blair released a deep sigh of relief, his shoulders sagging just a bit. He tried to think, come to some decision as to what his next move should be. On the one hand, he could find one of the offices, try the phones and maybe get help. He might also just as well hit the stairs and sneak out of the building, get himself completely out of harm’s way.

But of course that is when he got hit by two more visions in quick succession.

o-O-o

 _*||Joel huddles on the floor with Rhonda and Darryl, holding back any vocal indications of how much pain he is in as Vera tends to his leg wound. He is doing his best to stay as unobtrusive as possible. It works, Kincaid seems to have forgotten they were there as he talks to his men.||*_

 _*||"Is our building secure?"||*_

 _*||One of his lieutenants answers him, "Every entrance sealed and guarded. Elevators disabled, sir."||*_

 _*||"What about the cops in the field?" Kincaid questions.||*_

 _*||The other lieutenant answers, "All units diverted and the jammers operating, we've got their communications completely shut down."||*_

 _*||Kincaid looks extremely satisfied. "Looks like we've got the whole city at our feet boys." He smiles widely.||*_

 _*||Looking around he sees their little cluster. The sight of Joel pale and sweating seems to please him and the cruel smile grows wider as he walks over.||*_

 _*||"Justice will prevail for once, isn't that right Captain Taggert?" He says as he steps on Joel's injured leg, making the large man groan in agony. But Joel still has wits enough to reply, "Yeah, score one for the psychopaths."||*_

 _*||Kincaid snarls, and maliciously twists the foot he has on Joel's leg as he says, "I can see that bullet hole in your leg hasn't taught you any manners."||*_

 _*||Then his gaze slides over to Darryl and the ID badge around his neck. Taking a quick step over he grabs the kid up and yanks the badge from around his neck.||*_

 _*||Lifting his eyes from the badge to meet Darryl's Kincaid asks silkily, "Where's your daddy, boy?"||*_

 _*||Darryl's voice is full of terror as he blusters, "Gettin' ready to kick your ass."||*_

 _*||Kincaid pulled his gun and waves it slowly in front of the boy's face, "That so boy?"||*_

o-O-o

Blair blinked and was thrown into the second vision just as quickly as the first.

o-O-o

 _*||Jim drives down the road, eyes on the road but attention obviously on Carolyn as she tries to call the station. “Anything?”||*_

 _*||Carolyn shakes her head “It's not just my voicemail, the whole phone system's shut down.” She glances at him for ideas.||*_

 _*||“The backup network should have kicked right in.” he snarls, “Try 911.”||*_

 _*||Carolyn punches in the number but only gets a dull tone. “Disconnected.”||*_

 _*||“Something's wrong here.” Jim looks around, makes a U-turn and drives immediately back to the station. Reaching the garage, he pulls up to a stop at the grill gate in front.||*_

 _*||Jim grimaces as he tries to look up, down and around. Carolyn looks around as well, her face filling with concern.||*_

 _*||“Why is the gate closed? What the hell is going on here?” Jim growls as he extends his vision without a second thought. Searching the gloom, he spots the man aiming a gun at them from inside the garage. Instantly, he pulls Carolyn down while yelling.||*_

 _*||“Carolyn, get down!”||*_

 _*||Bullets begin to ping off the truck as Jim backs up, tires squealing.||*_

o-O-o

Blair’s head snapped up as the vision flashed away. Jim was being shot at. There was no escape through the garage where he had come in, so he couldn’t go there. He was trapped in the building with no telling how many terrorists… with guns… not so nice guys. Blair sighed unhappily. His mind was swimming, not paying attention to his surroundings when the door to the bathroom slammed open, startling him from his thoughts.

It startled him badly enough that he slipped and one foot skidded down and into the toilet bowl alerting the person in the bathroom with him he was there. Stifling his urge to curse, Blair pulled himself back up and braced himself with both hands on top of the stall’s sides, then when he judged the intruder was only a few inches from the flimsy stall door, he powerfully mule kicked it. Sending it flying into the man and knocking him out cold.

Blair swung out and onto the floor, straddling the man he had knocked out. A quick check told him the man was still alive, for which he was strangely grateful. He hadn’t wanted to kill the man, just stop him. For a moment, Blair thought about taking the gun with him, but decided against it, preferring to travel a bit lighter. He peered out the door to see if anyone had noticed the noise, and nodded in relief that he had not been discovered.

A blur out of the corner of his eye alerted him to the presence of his furry guardians and he snapped his head in their direction. Around the corner he could make out the door to the break room. Thinking that no one would look there anymore, he snuck out of the bathroom and headed down the hall to the relative safety it provided. Panther chuffed near silently as Wolf cocked his head to the side, tongue hanging out in a sheepish smile. Blair ignored them both and slipped behind one of the candy machines.

o-O-o

Simon's car pulled up and screeched to a stop. The big black man got out and strode over towards Jim, bellowing as he did, "Jim, what the hell is going on? I couldn't raise anybody on the radio-" Whatever else he might have been about to say was cut off as Jim forcibly yanked him down.

  
"Get down sir! Or you'll get your head blown off!" A few stray bullets flew and hit the ground in front of them as if to punctuate what Jim had said. "It's Garret Kincaid and his men. They've sealed the building and shut down communication, our cars can't even talk to each  
other."

  
Simon looked at his Detective and horror washed over his face, "Oh my God! Darryl's in there!" He made a move as if to go towards the building but Jim grabbed him and pushed him back against the side of the truck.

  
"Simon! Simon!" Jim called to get the larger man's attention, and when he had it he said, "Listen, he's okay."

  
"How do you know?" Simon asked, sounding nothing like an experienced police Captain but like any other concerned parent out there.

  
"Because I saw him at the window, he's in the squad room with all the other hostages." Jim told him in an effort reassure the other man. Simon relaxed a bit, but then tensed again.

  
"Damn it, by now they have got to know he's my kid."

  
"Simon, settle down!" Jim sighed, "He's scared yeah, but he's also unharmed and needs you now. Hang in there."

  
Banks smiled weakly at Jim and offered, "You know, in these hostage situations if you survive the first assault, you stand a pretty good chance right?"

  
Jim smiled back encouragingly, "Yeah."

  
Simon seemed to switch gears, from Dad to Captain, and asked, "Hey, you all right?"

  
Jim grimaced. He said, "Sandburg's still in there too."

  
The Captain echoed his detective's grimace, "Ooh yeah. Picked a hell of a day to get the guy his credentials Jim." Jim shot the other man a dirty look but didn't bother to reply.

  
Jim suddenly shot upright and faced the windows, "Oh no!"

  
Simon seemed to remember what he had been told that morning before everything went to shit and latched onto Jim asking, "What? What do you hear?" All too soon though the question was merely academic because the answer was presented to everyone at the same time as Simon's phone rang.

  
Darryl was lowered out of the window head first, Kincaid's men holding his feet and laughing at his screams of terror as Kincaid spoke to Simon.

  
 _*#"Banks, you've lost six people already – casualties of war, unavoidable really – your man Taggert here, he's wounded and losing blood fast. In 28 minutes a helicopter is going to land on the roof of your city jail – two of my men are POW's there – you are going to release them. In 33 minutes that chopper will touch down on this roof – if my men aren't on that chopper you are going to have a hell of a lot more people to bury – starting with that boy of yours. God love him, but he really needs to learn to have some respect for his elders."#*_

  
Simon's teeth gnashed, but he managed to sound civil as he replied, "I'll be talking to the Governor in a minute. Please don't hurt my boy."

  
Kincaid just said, _*#"Good, now I don't want any police, SWAT, National Guard, or even the damn Salvation Army showing up. Cause if they do, I'm going to start killing me some of these here sworn agents of the United States of Tyranny – am I making myself clear? And remember Captain who I'd be starting with."#*_

  
He hung up and Darryl was yanked back into the station at the same time. The demands had been well and truly made.

o-O-o

Blair leaned against the wall, deeply breathing and trying to control his shaking hands. “It's okay. Just do your kundalini breathing,” he muttered quietly to himself. “Man Naomi is not going to believe this, even if I did tell her…”

He quieted for a moment, and listened carefully for sounds of anyone coming in. Luckily so far he hadn’t been noticed and he felt a bit more relaxed. He wasn’t so shocked that he slipped into another vision when he closed his eyes.

o-O-o

 _*||In a café in the building across the street from the main PD, Simon is on his cell phone pacing while Jim and Carolyn watch him. He’s saying, “You can’t just send them in, people’s lives are at stake here.”||*_

 _*||Pauses listening, then he burst out, “Begging your pardon, ma'am, but Kincaid and his men are stone killers with a reputation for carrying out their threats. If the Guard rolls in, we could have a bloodbath on our hands.”||*_

 _*||Another pause, shorter this time and Simon asks, “The prisoners?”||*_

 _*||Then tightly he growls out, “If Kincaid doesn’t get what he wants, I guarantee he’ll react.”||*_

 _*||This time there was a significant pause as the Governor speaks, Simon’s shoulders rounding as it goes on. Jim, on the other hand, is obviously listening in with his ‘gifts’ and he gets tight lipped with anger. He nearly literally snarls when Simon says tiredly, “I wish to hell I knew.”||*_

 _*||The Governor gives some last instructions and Simon replies in return, “We’ll do our best.” Then he flips his phone shut and says, “She wants us to keep things as calm as we can until the Guard gets here.”||*_

 _*||“In less than twenty-five minutes that won’t be possible. Kincaid is going to realize his men aren’t going to be released, or the Guard is going to get here. Either will send that psycho off on a killing spree.” Jim states.||*_

 _*||“Well, options? Do we have any?” Carolyn asks.||*_

 _*||“I could get in the building and take my chances.” Jim volunteers. He gets two withering glances for his pains.||*_

 _*||“With all his men crawling around all over the place? Jim, please.”||*_

 _*||“She’s right Jim, they’ve got that place sealed up tight.”||*_

 _*||“Well there’s got to be something we can do.” Jim says in frustration. Then he perks up, “Hey Tom, you’ve got a Fax machine here right?”||*_

 _*||The café manager looks up and grins, “Yeah, who doesn’t?”||*_

 _*||Jim grins back looking much happier now that he is planning something, “Carolyn, you think you could have Public Works fax over the most complete up to date copy of a map of the sewer system in a four-block radius of the PD?”||*_

o-O-o

Blair blinked, snapping back to reality with a grimace.

“Gods, this is way intense!” he snarled. “You know, there are better ways to warn me rather than Hijacking my brain every five minutes!”

As if in retaliation, his next blink brought him into another vision.

o-O-o

 _*||Inside the bathroom where Blair had met the first terrorists, one of Kincaid's men enters and finds other man unconscious on floor. He clicks his radio.||*_

 _*||“Nolan here. We got a bogey in the building.”||*_

o-O-o

Blair blinked again, his head fuzzy and aching with the constant tripping back and forth in reality. He barely heard the footsteps of a man entering the break room and inserting money into the machine he was hiding behind. He held his breath in silence as the man snarled at the rejected money and growled.

“Exact change? I've got some change.” The sound of a gun cocking had Blair straightening up. The sound of it firing and shooting holes into the machine had him yelling at the top of his lungs.

“No! Don't shoot!” His legs kick out, his arms stiff as he pushed the machine over onto its hapless victim, knocking him unconscious. He dropped to the ground, looking over the machine and the man, then darted out the door down the hall and into the stairwell. He climbed the stairs to the 8th floor, let himself into the hallway and snuck into one of the offices nearby. His breathing whooshed out in harsh pants as he struggled to center himself and regain control.

Things were getting dicey now, and he wasn’t sure which direction to go next. His eyes strayed towards the window and he wondered, for an irrational moment, at the window washers unit hanging from the roof right outside. He could bust the window out and try to climb onto the unit, maybe send it down until he could reach the ground. Or up to the roof where he could find a fire escape. He glanced around for something to break the window, judging his options and wondering what Jim could be doing right at this moment.

o-O-o

Simon and Jim, both wearing Kevlar vests now, were down in a street not visible from the station. Jim is levering up a manhole cover while Carolyn watches. Simon is rummaging around in his car's open trunk, and grumbling, "Damn it, I have got to clean this out one of these days - I can't find anything in this mess and I know they're in here somewhere."

Then suddenly he cries out, "Aha! Found them!" Smiling he straightened and pocketed what he'd been looking for. Then after shutting his trunk, he walked over to the other two at the manhole. He said, "I knew they were in there."

Jim rolled his eyes and Carolyn snickered. She said, "Listen, before you start really mucking with that thing, let me get down to the corner there, make sure no-one notices when you get started."

Jim smirked, "You're all heart Caro, don't think I don't know you're running from what we can already smell." Carolyn flashed her ex-husband an impish grin and made tracks. Simon chuckled into his chest.

Jim shook his head, then said to Simon, "Hey, give me a hand with this will ya? Watch your fingers..."

"Yeah, yeah...." Simon grunted as they moved the heavy disc to the side then said abruptly, "I should have taken Darryl with me, or I should have left him with his mother, but I didn't. Instead, I left him in the middle of this mess."

Jim isn't really paying attention; he's reeling at the stench below.

Simon notices.

"Jim? Detective? Are you all right?"

Jim coughs, his eyes are watering and he looks decidedly green. "Oh man - that stinks."

"Jim?" Concern was very evident in Simon's voice.

Jim waved him off, "Yeah, I'll be fine - I just have to remember what Sandburg taught me when I was dragging him around the Mill during the Switchman case. That's how we figured her out you know, by scent.”

Simon shakes his head. “Too much information right now Jim, let’s put it on hold and just get moving.”

Jim shrugged and climbed down, Simon right behind him. They walk to the first intersection and Jim is getting steadily worse. Coughing, choking and tears running down his face. Then he turned to Simon and said, “I don’t know if I can handle this Simon.”

  
Then in a lightning change of mind he said, “No wait, I can acclimate – just give me a minute here.”

Finally Simon barked at Jim, “Well hell, do whatever helped you last time man. You are going to be useless if you keep up this way.”

Jim blushed. He said, “Blair had me focus on another scent – a good one – to keep me balanced.”

“Do it already then.” Simon said impatiently as he took out the map they’d requested from City Works. “I’m just going to be over here, taking a peek at our map here to make sure we go the right way.” Then he started mumbling mostly to himself, “Yeah. If we head that way it should take us right to the opening in the PD’s garage.”

They followed the map but then some things seemed to be off and Simon was getting frustrated as he cursed and ranted, but quietly. “There should be a bend to the left here… Damn! We’re running out of time Jim.” That’s when Jim’s nostrils flared and Simon’s eyes narrowed. Before he could be prompted Jim volunteered,

“I smell gasoline. Where’s the closest gas station to the PD Simon?”

Simon looked like he was about to cry for a moment, “There aren’t any…” but then his face cleared and a smile began, “…the pumps of the garage.”

o-O-o

 _*||Kincaid’s right hand man walks briskly up to the terrorist, his features twisted into a tight grimace. “Commander, I've got Walters on the ground-to-air. We have a problem.”||*_

 _*||Kincaid takes the phone from his man, barking into it tightly. “Talk to me, Walters.”||*_

 _*||There is silence as he listens to the news from his pilot. He frowns as he pulls back from the phone. “I can't believe they're messing with me on this. What more do they need to see? Nolan?”||*_

 _*||Nolan steps up smartly. “Sir?”||*_

 _*||“Use the TOW.” Kincaid goes back to listening on the phone as Nolan nods.||*_

 _*||“Yes, sir.” The man walks off for a moment, passing on orders to the others. Kincaid ignores him as the pilot says something else to him.||*_

 _*||“Take defensive action, Walters.” He replies to the unseen man on the other end of the line. He listens for a beat, then smiles smugly. “Excellent.”||*_

 _*||Joel snarls. “Kincaid... You're insane.”||*_

 _*||“Relative to what, captain?” snorts Kincaid.||*_

 _*||Nolan lifts his head to announce. “We're ready to launch, sir.”||*_

 _*||“Do it,” commands the madman.||*_

 _*||Two men with a missile launcher break one of the windows, aims and fires. The Missile launches into the next building, blowing it up and causing it to crumple in on itself.||*_

o-O-o

Blair was literally shaking to death as the vision fades. ‘These men are insane, and they are going to take out everyone in their way.’ He glances around, finally seeing his guides fully as they sat side by side in front of the door, watching him.

“This is crazy. I can’t go out there and stop them. But I can’t go out the window either. I have to find a way to slow them down, or bring in help faster.” Blair sat on the floor under the window, staring at his companions and waiting for some idea to cross his brain. He remembered the flash he had of the communications room being on this floor, and that it was held by these men. A half-baked plan began to form and he was on his feet in an instant. He spotted a large marble orb that he picked up and hefted in his right hand.

“This oughta do it,” He muttered as he reached for the doorknob. “Come on guys, time to take this place back.”

He glanced back at the window. “Cause there’s no way I’m risking my neck out on that thing.”

An annoyed growl from the cat reaches his ears and he stared back at it with a grimace as he caught a stray thought tossed his direction. The image of a chicken raced through his brain.

Blair huffs, “Nu-huh… I’ll have you know me climbing out on that rig would have been really brave – I’m scared of heights!”

The cat rolled his eyes. Blair mentally blew raspberries at the big black cat silently, “Yeah, say that when you are treading water buddy – then we can talk.”

The black head cocks and slyly sent the impression of him and his siblings playing dunk’em in Blair’s brain. Blair blushed as he muttered, “Oh, yeah. Jaguars love water… my bad.” Then he promptly felt sheepish for arguing with one of his spirit animals, and quietly made his way out of the office and down the hall to the Communications room.

Knocking gently on the door, he hunched down to take advantage of surprise, slamming the door into one of the men as he opened it. There was a startled ‘Oof!’ and someone calling for the guard as he opened the door wide and lobbed the marble paperweight into the other man. Both men were out for the count in seconds and Blair was in the Communications room. He pulled the handcuffs from one man’s belt and pulled him closer to a desk to handcuff him out of the way. He did the same to the second man, then turned to the computers.

On the view screen, he spotted the parking garage on one of the screens. The other screens show other parts of the building, including all the people in the squad room, where Kincaid and his men had set up their operations. Blair grimaced as he saw Rhonda and Vera as well as Joel and the boy that Blair believed to be Captain Banks son, the one he had seen in his visions. He sighed as he turned to the controls for communications. Seeing the jammers, he turned them all off, and then turned to one of the terminals to type out a message.

 _*#All units return to Central!#*_

He nodded once as the signal was sent out, then he set about locking the controls so that the units couldn’t be sent anywhere else. He was just finishing this when he noticed the camera for the garage again, and he is relieved to see Simon and then Jim crawling out of a hatch into the garage. He watches as the two men slip out of sight of the camera and he can’t see anything else. He switches off the cameras and turns to leave, with the hope that he can find a safe place to hide now that he has done all he can.

From one of the men on the ground, he hears the radio squawk to life. _*#“McBride, Southern… what’s the situation in there?”#*_

Blair stares at the radio, knowing that he’s was in for a hell of a lot of trouble now.

 _*#“McBride? Southern? Answer me, soldiers!”#*_

Yup, a hell of a lot of trouble. Blair made for the door, only to be brought up short as it opened and he was faced with Nolan and another man, both armed and aimed directly at him. He held his hands up meekly.

The two men taped Blair’s hands together with duct tape and then ushered him into the squad room, where Kincaid looked up, his eyes narrowed to mere slits. He reached out, snagged Blair by the jacket and hauled him over against the desk. Pointing his weapon in Blair’s face he snarled.

“Are you the mole that took out two of my men? In this militia, that's a capital offense.”

Blair held his hands up, sputtering, “Hey, man, you don't want to do that, believe me. I'm worth more to you as a live hostage than a dead body.”

His voice seemed to have a strange echo to it though, and Blair felt like he was hearing the conversation on two levels. His dream weighing heavily on his mind coloring everything.

“What makes you think that your sorry ass is worth anything to anybody?” growled Kincaid. Blair honestly wasn’t sure what to say, he faltered for a moment, his mind swirling with memories that didn’t belong to him, yet they did as well. He knew what he would have said, but it was a stupid gamble, and one he wasn’t so sure would pay out very well. He decided to go with a bit more of the truth.

“Look, I’m just a civilian. A consultant with the PD. I’ve been assigned to work with Ellison.” He held his breath as images swam before his eyes. He was so close to this, he couldn’t screw it up now. “But killing me would really mess things up for you.”

“He’s telling the truth Kincaid.” Joel called out from where he was still propped up against the wall, bleeding. Incensed Kincaid fired a shot into the desk beside the indisposed Bomb Squad Captain.

“SHUT up!” he yelled and then turned back to Blair and asked snarkily, “You aren’t a cop, what makes you so special?” Blair swallowed hard, his throat suddenly very dry.

Nolan rushed up, the portable phone in his hands. “Commander! Commander... It's Walters.”

Kincaid took the phone, letting go of Blair. “Go, Walters.”

Blair could overhear as Walters spoke on the other end. “They just brought out our P.O.W.'s. I'm dropping down to retrieve them, sir.”

Kincaid smiled grimly. “Good work, Walters. Sometimes all it takes is just a little persuasion.” He hung up and turned back to Blair. “Looks like the execution's off.”

Suddenly, a sound much like an explosion rocked the building. Kincaid looked around, then back at Blair, anger evident behind the cold voice that growled out. “Hoskins? Get down there and kill who's ever in my building.”

“Yes sir,” replied the man, turning and leaving to do as ordered. Blair blinked carefully, scared out of his wits, and hoping that it would all be over soon. Kincaid swung around and called into his radio.

“Everyone report to me immediately. Repeat, everyone report to me immediately.”

Blair rolled his eyes. “You just want your subjects to come to heel like the good little puppies they are.”

Kincaid turned back to him. “What did you say?”

“They have to defer to you, like perfect soldiers. What are you, Napoleon?” Blair snorted. His stomach was churning, but he couldn’t seem to shut himself up. “This is your Waterloo, man. If I could outwit your halfwit goons, then what do you think is coming after you now?”

Kincaid glared at him, “You think I’m scared of Ellison and Banks, or the rest of their Keystone cops? Son, they don’t bother me a bit. But I do have a schedule to keep.”

"Jeez, you realize they actually caught two of your men - so calling them the Keystone cops doesn't say a whole hell of a lot about your group..." Blair babbled on.

Joel shuddered as he attempted to hide the laughter that rumbled from deep inside. Rhonda and Darryl still noticed it though and looked at him oddly. Joel nodded for them to pay attention too as he watched the byplay with a secret smile on his lips. Kincaid went on as if he never heard, but Blair’s muttering slowed him up at every turn.

“This is victory, gentlemen.” Kincaid announced grandly. It was marred by Blair’s immediate mutter following.

“If this is what he calls victory I would hate to see what he thinks is a win.”

Kincaid glared at the curly haired consultant he held prisoner but continued in the same tone as he’d started, “Now, we will rendezvous at Camp Liberty as planned. All right? Congratulations, guys. I'm proud of all of you.”

“Man, ‘Camp Liberty’? Could you have gotten any more clichéd? And good Master, giving the good little doggies their treats for performing as trained... sheesh!” Kincaid slapped a hand over Blair’s mouth at this last, silencing him somewhat effectively.

“Now move out. Southern, McBride... you two stay here.”

“Why?” asked the taller of the two men singled out.

“Nolan will pick you up downstairs as planned. It shouldn't take more than 30 seconds to execute these hostages - well other than Mr. Natural the Academic here. Him I am taking with me, he's my protection." Blair struggled for a moment and got his mouth free of Kincaid’s hand enough to sputter.

"Oh man, name calling? That is just not nice, and you wouldn't last a minute against my mom if she caught you at it. Talk about an unequal battle there." Then Blair turned to Southern and McBride, "You two know you're gonna be sitting ducks right? A delaying tactic for your leader to get away, believe me I know all the tricks. My mother is a protester."

“Captain, we never talked about killing the hostages,” whispered Southern.

Kincaid clucked to him, “This is war. There are no prisoners. There are no witnesses. You know that.”

Kincaid grabbed hold of Blair and dragged him off before he could even attempt to utter another word, shoved through the doors of Major Crime and headed for the roof. Southern and McBride were left with a room full of hostages and trepidation in their hearts and faces.

McBride and Southern had begun to round up the people in the room, shouting orders as they struggled to control their unease.

“I want all you people to move to the center of the room! Face the back! Let's do it now. Move! Move! Move!” harped McBride.

Southern chimed in with, “Move it! You and you, help him up.”

Joel stood with the aid of Rhonda and Vera; he moved slowly in order to stall as he seized the opening that Blair had left for him. He said knowingly, "You know Kincaid's leaving you two here to fry, just like Sandburg said. Kincaid needed something to hold up the chase and he figures you three are it."

Darryl was hauled up and shoved in with the others. Rhonda from where she was walking beside Joel blatantly stared at the men.

“Come on, now!” groused McBride as he shoved people along. He noticed Rhoda and snarled at her. “Face the window, people. I don't want to see no faces.”

Eventually most of the people begin turning around, facing the windows and turning their backs on their soon-to-be executioners. Southern and McBride cock their guns but get no further before Simon and Jim slam the doors behind them open wide. McBride turns with his gun ready but doesn’t fire.

Jim comes up on him suddenly. “Drop your weapons!”

McBride hefts his weapon defiantly, “I don't think so!”

Joel turns on his good leg and attacks Southern from behind, knocking gun from his hand and knocking him out. Darryl, thinking he needs to help, rushes at McBride.

“I got him, Dad.” He says a split second before jumping on the man from behind. Simon turns that direction, words of warning on his lips.

“Daryl, no!” He wades in and punches McBride just as the man swings Darryl down and prepares to hit him. Other officers disarm McBride. Everyone breathes large sighs of relief. Jim looks around for a moment, realization dawning on his face.

“Where’s Sandburg?” he asked. Joel turned to him, and then glanced up. Jim nods as he turns away. “All right, I'm upstairs.”

Simon doesn't notice he's gone, he's got his son in his arms.

“ Daryl! Daryl, come here.” He hugs the boy tightly. Shudders of relief rush through both of them. “It's all right, son. Shh.”

“Oh, Daddy.” Darryl sobs, his voice breaking as he tries to literally climb into his father’s arms. Simon rocks the boy against his chest.

“They're gone now. Shh. Rhonda.” He turns to his secretary, a question in his eyes. She nods immediately and reaches out her hands for the boy. Simon turns Darryl to Rhonda, regretting the action, but knowing that he still has a job to finish. “Daryl, I want you to stay here with Rhonda now, okay? I'll be right back. You got him?”

Rhonda holds Daryl's head to her chest. She thrusts her chin out in an unspoken command. Simon nods his understanding and leaves.

o-O-o

Blair struggled to keep up with Kincaid as the man hustled up the stairs to the roof. “Why am I getting singled out?” he demanded.

Kincaid chuckled. “Don't worry about it, Professor. You're one of the lucky ones. You're coming with me.”

“Yeah, and why does that statement _*not*_ instill warmth in my heart, man?” Blair groused as they reached the helicopter pad on the roof, a chopper already spinning its blades and ready to take flight. “No! You don't understand.”

“Shut up, kid.” Kincaid growled at him as he opened the door. Bair struggled again, fear evident in every line of his face.

“Look, I can’t go up in this thing!” yelled Blair. “I’m terrified of heights!”

Kincaid laughed. “Guess you’re going to have to get over that right quick!”

The chopper doors slide shut and the chopper lifted off the pad. From below, Blair couldn’t see but instinct told him that his rescue was close at hand. He was about to ask where they were going when he felt the entire chopper shudder as if a great weight had landed on it.

“What was that, Walters?” snapped Kincaid. Walters struggled with the controls for a moment before replying.

“Down draft!”

Blair would have been inclined to agree with him, were it not for the twin calls of the cat and wolf. That was no mere turbulence. He looked out his window, trying to see with his eyes what his mind knew had to be. Kincaid glanced out the other window, then took a better look down and spotted the disturbance below.

“Looks like we got ourselves a stowaway, boys. How many lives does that guy have anyway? Lose him, Walters.”

 _*Jim!*_ thought Blair. _*It has to be Jim!*_

Walters tightened his hand on the control stick. “Hang on!”

With a twist of the wrist, Walters attempted to shake off his troubles. But the weight was still there, dragging them down. He tried once more, getting no better response. Kincaid continued to watch out the window. “Well, I guess he just doesn't want to let go.”

He opened the door to the chopper and pulled a gun, pointing it at Jim, who was on the skid, struggling to hold on. The cop reached for Kincaid’s hand and the gun, but failed to dislodge it. Blair took that moment to shove Kincaid out the door towards Jim, who grabbed the man. Kincaid dropped the weapon and clutched onto Jim’s leg.

Blair glanced out, noticed Jim’s hand cuffed to the strut and felt a little better knowing that his Sentinel couldn’t be dislodged so easily. The same could not be said for Kincaid, who held on to his enemy for dear life. Jim yelled to the Walters.

“Take us back!”

Kincaid was quick to belie that order, “No! You have to kill me first!”

Jim's eyes met Blair's as he said “Have it your way!” And he promptly began to shake his leg to dislodge his unwanted passenger. Again Blair was nudged with a kind of echoing sensation as memories from his dream rose up. He knew what he had to do - just what he had to say. Shuffling his feet, he found the box of flares on the floor.

Kincaid's tune changed in a hurry, "Walters, get this thing back now!"

“He's nuts if he thinks I'm flying into this dragnet.” Walters said as he carried on.

Blair pulled the flare gun from the box and, without loading it, reached forward and pointed the gun at the pilot. “Set it down now!”

Walters glanced at him, at the gun, and snarled. “Yeah, kill me and we all go down, buddy.”

Blair smiled gleefully, his eyes twinkling with just enough hysteria to look insane as he continued to point the gun at Walters. “I don't think so Pal! I'm the bastard genius son of a woman who believed highly in trying experimental therapies to cure my obsessive fear of heights. There isn't an aircraft made I don't know how to fly!"

Walters gave the young anthropologist a frightened look and made a calculated decision, he turned the chopper around. Blair watched him until they were hovering over the ‘copter pad, where Kincaid released Jim and fell to the ground. Jim unlocked the cuff from the strut and landed next to him, shoving him over so that the chopper could land properly.

Officers standing on the roof were waiting for Kincaid and took custody of him from Jim as he worked on unlocking the second cuff from his arm. More officers began taking men out of the chopper, including Blair who meekly handed over the empty flare gun to one of the men before allowing them to help him to the roof.

Kincaid snarled at Simon as he was hauled away. “This isn't over, Captain! Not by a long shot.”

Simon smirked. “It is for you! Get him out of here!” He walked over to Jim. “Hairy ride?”

Jim smiled as he finally managed to remove the cuff from his arm. “You don't know the half of it. It wasn't really that bad until Riggs over there got into it - that's when it really got hairy!”

Simon looked in the direction that Jim nodded and saw Blair being removed from the chopper, his hands still taped together. He shrugged, not understanding, but moving to intercept the officers taking Blair off the pad.

Blair was protesting he wasn't with Kincaid - he was with them - at the top of his lungs in frustration. The Swat guys are ignoring him and Jim grabbed him as they are passing. “Don't worry about it guys, he really is with us."

With skeptical glances, the men turned to Simon, the voice of authority, for confirmation. Simon shrugged and replied, "Yeah, hard to believe but it's true."

Blair shot the big man a dirty look, and Jim one too for good measure. "Thanks a lot guys. Heaps."

They laughed at his disgruntled demeanor and started walking away. Blair scrambled to catch up. In the meantime, Carolyn, who had been searching for Jim, finally spotted him and made a beeline their direction. She swept in front of Jim and hugged him, and then stepped back scolding. "I thought I told you to be careful, you bum."

Jim put on what he thought was an innocent face and said, "What? I was careful. Wasn't I Simon? Tell her."

Simon rumbled solemnly, "Extremely careful." But the glint of amusement in his dark eyes told another story. Blair snickered behind Jim, not wanting to risk getting that death glare from her again.

Carolyn shook her head and walked away saying "Incorrigible, totally and utterly incorrigible." She had to get back to work though and couldn't stick around and harass them.

Simon looked around and seeing that the three of them are alone for the most part said, "So these senses, this is what we have to look forward to?"

Blair straightened up, "Wait a minute here; Jim had to use his senses? Oh what am I saying; of course he had to use his senses." Blair deep in thought absently bopped Jim in the chest with his still duct-taped wrists; Jim, catching the bound hands, began to pick at the tape automatically. Simon watched their antics with amusement clear on his face.

Blair looked at Simon with a grin, "So you got to see him in action today hunh? What did you think?"

Simon's voice clearly sounded with the amazement he had felt while watching as he answered, "It was awesome. I've never seen anything like it. He was hearing things I couldn't hear; smelling things I couldn't smell."

Blair bounced slightly as a huge grin washed across his face. “Yeah, but you gotta remember, too. With these great senses, he has a couple of dangers to watch out for. The Zone outs could leave him vulnerable to just about anyone sneaking up on him. And the spikes could wipe out his thoughts and make it hard to concentrate. That’s why he needs help.”

Simon nodded once. “That’s why he wants you to come along, eh?”

“Well, I do know about them and understand them.” Blair replied. Jim laid a proprietary hand on his shoulder that Blair noticed but made no comment on. Simon sighed.

“Fine, how about we let things subside down here a couple of days, and then we pick it all back up on Monday morning?” Both men nodded to the Captain and he began to turn away. Now if you will excuse me, gentleman, I’m going back downstairs to hug my son.”

Jim waved as Simon walked away, then looked down as Blair gazed up at him expectantly. Jim sighed, “This is where you ask me how I did with the senses, if I had any troubles, any spikes or zones, right?”

Blair snickered. “Am I that predictable after only a week? Jeez, I need to get some better material.”

Jim snorted. “Yeah, and in answer to your questions, the senses are fine, no major problems. I did what you told me to do before and it all worked out.”

Blair looked a weird combination of gratified and pained. Gratified because it seemed his advice and teaching had already helped Jim, but pained because, “Oh come on man, you have to give me more details than that.”

“Ok, well there was one moment in the sewers where I really could have used your help.” Jim admitted. “But then I remembered what you said about filtering out the known and finding the unknown, and I remembered your scent from before and it sort of… I dunno… masked all the other scents that were giving me trouble. Worked like a charm.”

Blair smiled in relief. “Good, I was a little worried about that. I mean, in between running around the halls, knocking over vending machines onto terrorists and pulling empty flare guns on unsuspecting chopper pilots.” Blair paused and then after a breath asked hesitantly, “This wasn’t a typical day for you, was it?”

Now it was Jim’s turn to look pained and grateful. Finally he shook his head and reached out to clasp Blair on the shoulder. Staring down at him, Jim appeared to space out for a moment and Blair could have sworn that he zoned, but Jim simply took the time, and really focused on his companion as the sun setting over the horizon flared and outlined Blair in a halo effect.

Effortlessly Jim's eyes focused past where anybody else's could go, the pupils widening to an extreme size. They took in every pore of the skin as it stretched over the distinctive bone structure. They registered every bristle of the heavy beard Blair attempted to keep clean shaven and how the muscles laid and shifted over the bones. The light that tripped through the soft curls drew his attention to the myriad colors streaking through them. Reds, browns, even some blonds all blended together clearly to Jim’s penetrating gaze. Something shifted and Jim seemed to come back to himself.

Finally, before Blair could start asking more questions, Jim smiled and said, “Chief, the way you handled everything today was just amazing… of course the one that impressed me the most was getting Vera to smile."

Blair rolls his eyes. "Jim, I am guessing you never spent a lot of time in the office while you were in school did you?"

"No"

"Nuff said."

Jim laughed, and Blair grinned. It was a good day, they’d survived. Simon was in on the Sentinel secret and backing them up, now all that was left was finishing up the paperwork that had been abandoned in the confusion. Well that and clean up. Thankfully not their job.  



End file.
